


Cookie Dough

by liepard442



Category: Kagerou Project
Genre: Baking, Gen, Young!Kido
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 12:09:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11531931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liepard442/pseuds/liepard442
Summary: In which Kido and Ayaka bake together, and Kido refuses to share the left-over cookie dough with her siblings.





	Cookie Dough

Tsubomi Kido sat at the window, watching as her siblings ran and played outside. She would have went out to join them in their escapades... But there were several reasons for her reluctance. The first of which was the most obvious, and the excuse that she had told them directly; the summer heat was no good for her, especially if she was going to be running and sweating. Perhaps that could have been helped by wearing clothes that didn't cover as much, and weren't as hot as her usual attire... But she couldn't do _that,_ either. Of course, the three of them understood that much. After all, they all knew _just_ how insecure she was over the burns that covered her body.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason for her reluctance. A reason that was _much_ more sneaky, in all honesty. There was one thing that Tsubomi had come to know well during her time staying inside on those particularly hot days; Ayaka-san liked to bake. … Though, at this point, she had taken to calling the woman “Mom” most of the time. A habit that she had fallen into after spending so much time with, and coming to trust the woman who had adopted herself, Shuuya, and Kousuke.

Kenjirou-san, on the other hand, was a different story. For reasons that she would rather not disclose... She was definitely not as close to the man as she was to 'Mom.' It wasn't that she didn't like him. It was quite the opposite, really. He was... definitely something else, but it was obvious that he had a very kind heart and demenor. … Of course, those things didn't matter when it came to the underlying trust issues she had due to a past trauma she hardly remembered.

Nevertheless, Mom's baking was the second reason that she prefered to stay indoors like this. It wasn't uncommon for her to slip into the kitchen in order to make some cookies or brownies for when the others finally managed to tire themselves out... And, knowing that Tsubomi was typically in the house? She'd always come to get her to help with the process. Something that she had grown used to, really. It was their _thing,_ in all honesty.

And, just like she had come to expect... There was a soft knock on the door to the bedroom that she shared with Nee-chan. Mom's voice followed after it. “Tsubomi?”

Like usual, even if she was expecting it, she felt her muscles tense and relax-- A quick flinch out of pure reflex. It wasn't something that she could help... Moreso it was something that had been ingrained into her over the years. It'd been noted that the only thing that could solve it, if anything, was time. Nonetheless, after that short moment, Tsubomi turned her head ever-so-slightly so that she was just _barely_ looking at the door. “... Mm..? … Come in--”

Almost as soon as she got the okay, the door creaked open, and Tsubomi turned her entire body to face the woman that stood in the door way. “... Are you sure that you don't want to go outside for a bit?” The answer to the question was obvious-- In all honesty, Tsubomi didn't quite get why she bothered asking at this point.

“.... I'll pass,” she responded timidly, just barely shaking her head. “... Sorry.”

Ayaka gave her an understanding nod. The small smile that she always wore on her face faded just the slightest bit when the word 'sorry' escaped from Tsubomi's lips, however. “... You don't have to apologize, sweetie-- You didn't do anything wrong, I promise.” There was a short pause as she pondered over what to do next. “.... How about you come with me to the kitchen, then?”

At the word 'kitchen' Tsubomi instantly perked up. That was _exactly_ what she had been waiting for-- An offer to come and help with whatever Mom was doing-- Which, most of the time, involved cooking or baking of some sort.... Something that, most of the time, she was more than willing to attempt to help with however she could. “... Sure!”

As soon as the response escaped her lips Tsubomi was bouncing towards the door, ready to go downstairs and help in the kitchen. Thoughts of brownie batter and cookie dough entered her head... And, in all honesty, she could only hope that this would be one of the times that Mom would let her pick which of the two they made. As she got close to the door, Ayaka stepped out of the way to allow Tsubomi to go on ahead of her.

A quick skip down the stairs and down a small hallway brought the two of them to the kitchen. The counter was already ligned with the _basic_ ingrediants to make either of the two...-- It was the times that the kitchen looked like this that Tsubomi knew that she'd get to pick for that time. “... Can we make cookies..?” she asked, her voice still just as timid as it had been upstairs. She was so _cautious_ about asking even the most innocent of questions--

Of course, Ayaka never skipped a beat. “Of course! Go get the chocolate chips out of the cabinet, dear?”

A tiny nod and Tsubomi was already off, ready to climb _on top of the counter_ in order to reach the chocolate chips that were up in the cabinet-- It was at that moment that Ayaka realized her mistake, and rushed over to lift Tsubomi by her waist. Or, at least, that was the idea before Tsubomi let out a startled shriek as her hands met with her waist-- An idea that was quickly thrown in the garbage as she took a step back, allowing her daughter to have a bit of space to compose herself.

She hated to see Tsubomi like this-- The shaking and anxiety that occurred after an event like this-- And all that she could really do was give the girl her space. Talking it out would have to wait until she had her moment to calm down from the shock. Her moment to recollect herself and stablize-- The moment that Ayaka hated seeing the most. Not because she didn't want to deal with it, but because she hated to see her daughter-- No, not just her daughter. _Any_ of her children in this kind of distress.

Tsubomi took several deep breathes, steadying herself. She was fine. She was going to be fine. She wasn't hurt. It was just Mom. … Yeah, it was _just Mom...-_ Rationalizing the situation is what made it easiest to deal with. And, within a few moments, she was able to turn around and face Ayaka. She was still shaken... “... S- sorry..-- You just.. surprised me-”

“... It's fine. I should have said something.” That smile stayed on Ayaka's face. She was so strong and wonderful-- The ideal mother. “... How about I just grab the chocolate chips, then?” Tsubomi gave the tiniest of nods, which gave Ayaka the okay to move around her and grab the box from the cabinet. Setting it on the counter, she turned back to her daughter. “... Might as well start, huh?” A short pause. “... Before your siblings come in and steal all your _precious_ cookie dough~”

Hearing that statement, Tsubomi's eyes widened ever so slightly, before letting the smallest of laughs escape from her lips. “W- well they'll never get it! Because it's mine!” she announced proudly. “I'm the one who does all the mixing, after all--”

“Right you are,” Ayaka stated with a wink. “I _guess_ it's only fair that you be the one to get the left over dough or batter... But _surely_ you could be kinder to your siblings?”

“No.” Her response was blunt, but the tiny smile that appeared was enough to make Ayaka chuckle. That was one thing that made Ayaka easy for her to be around. The fact that just about every little thing could make her laugh. It was comforting, in all honesty... It reminded her of someone that she had been incredibly close to in the past.

As the laugh escaped her lips, Ayaka was moving to start measuring the ingrediants and pouring all of them into a bowl, which she then handed over to Tsubomi with a wooden spoon. “In that case, here you go~”

Almost as soon as she got the bowl and spoon, Tsubomi was stiring all of the incrediants together. It was something simple, yes-- But she'd say that she had gotten better at it than she was the first time that she had ever tried to help-- … And that, in itself, had been a huge mess. She'd stirred too quickly, leading to cookie dough being all over the counter instead of in the bowl where it belonged.

But with Ayaka's gentleness about the situation, she was quickly able to learn how to do it right. Making sure that it was mixed evenly-- And, from there, making sure that the little dots of cookie dough were placed on the cookie sheet in _just_ the right way to prevent them from sitcking to each other.

While she was stiring, Ayaka had grabbed two cookie sheets from the cabinet and covered both of them with parchment paper. As soon as she got the okay, Tsubomi was standing on a chair and dabbing the little bits of cookie dough onto the sheets-- Making sure that they were perfectly spaced, like she always did. She didn't want to take any chances of messing up-- Even if she had been told it would be okay if she did, the idea of making such a _stupid_ mistake was anxiety inducing-- It was a mistake that, at this point, she really _shouldn't_ make--

When she finished, there were 24 cookies placed near-perfectly on the two cookie sheets-- Twelve on each. Tsubomi looked up at Ayaka with a smile on her face, incredibly proud of herself-- And, while she returned the young girl's smile? There was also a rather serious expression on the woman's face.

“.... Tsubomi?” She was hesitant with her question. Before she could even begin to say it, Tsubomi knew exactly what she was going to ask. It was a question that was asked every time they would bake. “... Do you want to try putting them in the oven this time?” Her voice was so gentle-- She was trying so hard to not sound forceful in the slightest. After all, this was something that Tsubomi would have to do on her own terms. It wouldn't do any good to force her; that's what she had been told. Forcing her would only make her more upset, which would then make the panic worse.

Tsubomi was hesitant to respond-- She wasn't sure if she wanted to deal with it--

“... I can go get a cold shower started, if you want to?”

Tsubomi finally shook her head, taking a step further back from the heated oven just to prove her point furrther. She didn't want to today. Ayaka nodded understandingly, taking both of the cookie sheets and putting them in the oven with relative ease. Tsubomi was watching every move she made, just _waiting_ for something to happen-- But it never did. The oven was closed as soon as the cookies were put in, and the timer was turned to the appropriate time. That was the end of it.

Now all that was left was to wait for the timer go off, allow the cookies to cool, and then enjoy them with her siblings-- And, while she waited? She'd eat the small amount of cookie dough that she had left in the bowl- The one part of the cookies that, as long as she had any say in it, she wouldn't be sharing with _anyone._

 


End file.
